Wertzville Road corridor in Hampden Township has seen phenomenal development

For 30 years, Gary Dolbin’s house has been surrounded by tall trees and not much else at the foot of Valley Road in Hampden Twp.

He has watched the development come closer in recent years, with the slow but steady growth of the Cumberland Technology Park across the intersection with Wertzville Road.

JOHN C. WHITEHEAD, The Patriot-News

The bad economy was a respite, but the businesses kept coming to his door making offers.

He knew this day would come. Now it has.

Dolbin said Tuesday he and several of his neighbors are selling their land to Weis Markets so the supermarket chain can build a store. The deal with Weis is to close in early June, Dolbin said.

On the other side of Valley Road, Dolbin’s friend, Al Kominski who owns the Al’s of Hampden restaurant, also sees the change about to come. Kominski is dealing with it in a different way. He’s staying and growing.

Kominski had already committed to expanding his business before learning of Tuesday’s announcement that PinnacleHealth is planning to build a hospital in the technology park.

Kominski has seen how this area of the township has grown since he opened his restaurant in 2002. He saw more growth coming, and moved to be ahead of the curve by buying land just up Valley Road, in the Pyramid Business Park.

He hopes to break ground by the end of 2012 on a new restaurant that will be five times larger than this one.

The new hospital will be good for business, Kominski said, but he thinks the increased traffic will force planners to again redo the Wertzville-Valley Road intersection. He fears that getting in and out of his present restaurant will become too much of a hassle for drivers.

His new establishment will be far enough away from the intersection to be easy to get to and close enough to be convenient for the 400-plus workers Pinnacle plans to bring here and the other workers in the park.

“We’re trying to be proactive rather than reactive,” Kominski said.

It’s not all good. Kominski, his wife, Stephanie, and their three children also live off Wertzville Road, not far from where the hospital will be.

He’s concerned about the increased traffic and the confusion that can come from living near a hospital, with ambulances in and out at all hours and noisy helicopters flying overhead.

“We’re conflicted,” Stephanie said. But the Kominskis have no plans to move.

“My wife and I are making a huge investment in this place. We’ll be here for the rest of our lives,” Kominski said.

Dolbin started to see the change when Valley and Wertzville roads were widened to handle the increased traffic from businesses moving into the Cumberland Technology Park, including The Patriot-News’ printing plant and main offices.

Many new homes also were built in developments set far enough back from Wertzville Road to leave the congestion behind.

Dolbin said he knew he wouldn’t have that luxury when a state official told him of plans to install a traffic signal at the end of his driveway.

“That was sort of a wake-up call. We didn’t want to be a residential island in the middle of [competing grocery stores,]” Dolbin said.

Giant Foods wants to build a store on Valley Road directly across from the Weis that would be on top of where Dolbin now lives.

Giant spokesman Chris Brand wouldn’t say Tuesday how large the store is to be.

In November, ARP Wertzville Road LLC, created by Giant Foods to buy and develop land for the store, sued Hampden Twp. in Cumberland County Court over the township’s approval of the Weis store plan in October.

The appeal claims the township erred and abused its discretion in granting Weis Markets the approval, knowing the plan didn’t comply with the township’s zoning ordinances.

Weis Markets spokesman Dennis Curtin said Weis is forging ahead with its plan for a store, typically 62,000 to 65,000 square feet.

“There has been strong growth. We call it the Wertzville Road corridor. In a way, it’s an extension of northwest Camp Hill. It has been moving in that direction and it will continue to grow,” Curtin said.

The area was set up for this growth years ago, Cumberland County Planning Director Kirk Stoner said. Businesses are drawn to the good access to Interstates 81 and 83 and the Route 581 connector. The zoning is business-friendly, and water and sewer lines are in place. Probably the only thing holding the growth back in recent years has been the sluggish economy, Stoner said.

That seems to be changing. After several years of inactivity, Cumberland Technology Park owners Mount Zion Associates this week rehired Realtor Dan Alderman of NAI CIR to resume marketing the park’s last seven undeveloped lots.

Whether the roads can keep pace is another question. Stoner said there are plans to widen Wertzville Road to four lanes from Valley Road to East Penn Drive, but the project ranks 90th on a list of 96 in Cumberland County to be completed between now and 2035. 

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